Physics

Fresnel equations

Transverse plane

Angle of incidence (optics)

Light source

Structural engineering

Optics

Engineering

Materials science

Reflector (photography)

Refractive index

Case Studies in Thermal Engineering

This paper aims to examine the optical behavior of a small experimental setup for linear Fresnel reflector. The setup was built and tested as a water heater at University of Blida located in Algeria. All the optical factors of the studied solar system have been taken into account, such as the intercept factor, the longitudinal coefficient of incidence angle modifier, the transverse coefficient of incidence angle modifier, the concentration ratio and the optical efficiency. For this reason, a numerical model is proposed to determine optical parameters. In addition, SolTrace modeling was used to confirm the numerical results obtained. The results obtained showed that the number of the reflective mirrors has a direct impact on the optical efficiency of the device, where the average values of the optical efficiency exceeded 42.65%, 35.82% and 26.98% for 11, 09 and 07 mirrors. In addition, the concentration ratio is increased proportionally with the number of the reflective mirror, where the average values of this factor exceeded 9.77, 8.64 and 6.74 for 11, 09 and 07 mirrors, respectively.

Optical performance assessment of a small experimental prototype of linear Fresnel reflector